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I used to use Intellij for everything (and I'm not even a Java dev). It is indeed very nice and comes with so much out-of-box around languages and popular libra

I used to use Intellij for everything (and I'm not even a Java dev). It is indeed very nice and comes with so much out-of-box around languages and popular libraries. However, Intellij is _sooo_ very slow to load and edit with. This is more tolerable if you work on one project. But in the past couple years, I've had to work on many smaller projects, and loading up Intellij for multiple projects meant gigs of RAM disappearing, along with that sluggish start time wait for each project and slow editing. I really loved Intellij and I wish it could be made to run more efficient. VSCode fills the niche of "loads fast, moving around code is fast, and I can have many instances open at once without crushing my computer" I guess it depends on the type of project you're working on, but I think these tools still serve separate use cases.

justrudd 6y ago
Are the projects related? Or all unique? If related, you can create a uber project and import each directory as a module. I’ve got a project right now with 5 modules - 2 JS, 1 Go, 1 Python, and 1 Ruby (Rails). I’ve found this keeps memory usage down.
- jameslk 6y ago
  They're for separate clients. I've thought about doing something like a giant monorepo of client projects even though they aren't related. It's hacky at best, but ultimately I felt I should just use the right tool for the job and VSCode seems like a better fit for this scenario. I'm sure someone else will benefit from this suggestion though. Intellij is pretty flexible and it is amazing what it can do, if you don't mind the performance trade-offs.
scarface74 6y ago
IntelliJ still has that Java GUI stench that made me stay away from Java over 15 years ago.
- sethammons 6y ago
  Ha! Every older point of sale software and every medical screen Seems to have that distinct java ui. Never liked it.
- mdekkers 6y ago
  There are some pretty good theme options. Have a look at the material theme for example https://www.material-theme.com https://www.material-theme.com
  - scarface74 6y ago
    It’s not just theming. Java GUI apps just don’t “feel” right. It’s like the uncanny valley of interfaces. It feels less native than Electron apps. I pay for Resharper every month. JetBrains makes excellent products. But I tried IntelliJ, I quickly went back to VSCode.
Igelau 6y ago
You just have to get Nyan Progress Bar extension to make those wait times more fabulous.
- willcipriano 6y ago
  Seconded. The Dilbert plugin can also make the wait times more tolerable.
mekster 6y ago
Hardware can fix that. I'm on latest MBA but I see no problem with performance. Recent hardware does have gigs of RAM to waste. Once IntelliJ is running, which takes less than 10 seconds, projects open instantly. Probably even better on desktop machines. Frankly VS code isn't good enough yet. It's the best if isn't for JetBrains but for instance, SQL queries are still just a string (unless I've missed the obvious plugin to allow me to auto complete column names and such according to the live database schema) but IntelliJ can highlight, auto complete and check errors once I register my database (also through ssh tunneling). I do like VS code being faster but feature wise, I only use it to edit server config files through sftp plugin. In 5 years, maybe JetBrains might feel pressured from competitors. But it's only less than $15/mo if you pay annually and from 3rd year for their all products pack.
- fiddlerwoaroof 6y ago
  I think this is largely a matter of where on the stack you tend to work. VSCode is significantly better than IntelliJ/WebStorm for JavaScript projects: jump to definition and the various refactorings are, IME, more reliable on development environments based on tsserver like VSCode.
  - mekster 6y ago
    I work on TS only project but VS Code doesn't highlight my SQL queries and what part is significantly better? Genuinely want to know. I would switch if it really is.
    - fiddlerwoaroof 6y ago
      I found (on a team with a mix of VSC and WebStorm users) that VSCode had better overall support for jump to definition and refactorings: the refactorings, in particular, were more accurate and were less likely to change irrelevant locations or leave usages unchanged. Also, at the time, prettier integrated into VSC better: that may have changed since. (This is mostly for Javascript: Typescript is more Java-like, so IntelliJ's tooling may be better there.)

justrudd 6y ago

Are the projects related? Or all unique? If related, you can create a uber project and import each directory as a module. I’ve got a project right now with 5 modules - 2 JS, 1 Go, 1 Python, and 1 Ruby (Rails). I’ve found this keeps memory usage down.

jameslk 6y ago
They're for separate clients. I've thought about doing something like a giant monorepo of client projects even though they aren't related. It's hacky at best, but ultimately I felt I should just use the right tool for the job and VSCode seems like a better fit for this scenario. I'm sure someone else will benefit from this suggestion though. Intellij is pretty flexible and it is amazing what it can do, if you don't mind the performance trade-offs.

scarface74 6y ago

IntelliJ still has that Java GUI stench that made me stay away from Java over 15 years ago.

sethammons 6y ago
Ha! Every older point of sale software and every medical screen Seems to have that distinct java ui. Never liked it.
mdekkers 6y ago
There are some pretty good theme options. Have a look at the material theme for example https://www.material-theme.com https://www.material-theme.com
- scarface74 6y ago
  It’s not just theming. Java GUI apps just don’t “feel” right. It’s like the uncanny valley of interfaces. It feels less native than Electron apps. I pay for Resharper every month. JetBrains makes excellent products. But I tried IntelliJ, I quickly went back to VSCode.

Igelau 6y ago

You just have to get Nyan Progress Bar extension to make those wait times more fabulous.

willcipriano 6y ago
Seconded. The Dilbert plugin can also make the wait times more tolerable.

mekster 6y ago

Hardware can fix that. I'm on latest MBA but I see no problem with performance. Recent hardware does have gigs of RAM to waste. Once IntelliJ is running, which takes less than 10 seconds, projects open instantly. Probably even better on desktop machines. Frankly VS code isn't good enough yet. It's the best if isn't for JetBrains but for instance, SQL queries are still just a string (unless I've missed the obvious plugin to allow me to auto complete column names and such according to the live database schema) but IntelliJ can highlight, auto complete and check errors once I register my database (also through ssh tunneling). I do like VS code being faster but feature wise, I only use it to edit server config files through sftp plugin. In 5 years, maybe JetBrains might feel pressured from competitors. But it's only less than $15/mo if you pay annually and from 3rd year for their all products pack.

fiddlerwoaroof 6y ago
I think this is largely a matter of where on the stack you tend to work. VSCode is significantly better than IntelliJ/WebStorm for JavaScript projects: jump to definition and the various refactorings are, IME, more reliable on development environments based on tsserver like VSCode.
- mekster 6y ago
  I work on TS only project but VS Code doesn't highlight my SQL queries and what part is significantly better? Genuinely want to know. I would switch if it really is.
  - fiddlerwoaroof 6y ago
    I found (on a team with a mix of VSC and WebStorm users) that VSCode had better overall support for jump to definition and refactorings: the refactorings, in particular, were more accurate and were less likely to change irrelevant locations or leave usages unchanged. Also, at the time, prettier integrated into VSC better: that may have changed since. (This is mostly for Javascript: Typescript is more Java-like, so IntelliJ's tooling may be better there.)